A League of Their Own
by AngelOfBlades
Summary: Young duelists with everything to prove strive for success in the cutthroat world of the Pro League.  Will they be raised to ultimate fame and fortune, or cast aside in the wake of someone greater?
1. Great Star of Tomorrow!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

A Note to fans of my previous fic, A New Duelist Legend: Hello. Yes, I'm not dead. I do, however, come bearing sad news. This is an official announcement of the cancellation of 'A New Duelist Legend'. Sad, I know, but quite frankly, that fic was a mess. Abandoned plot hints, an inconsistent story, poorly written duels and unbalanced characters all ran rampant through that fic. It had its moments, but I was all and all unsatisfied with it, hence my lack of updates for multiple months. With this sad news, however, comes good news. I'm going to try again! Many of your favorite characters, such as Tsukanna, Rita and Vincent will return in this story, set in a unique new setting with a new main character. I hope my previous failure won't tarnish your enjoyment of this story. Now, without further ado, on with the (new) fic!

Yu-Gi-Oh GX – A League of Their Own

Chapter 1 – Great Star of Tomorrow! Shibai Takes Center Stage!

There are millions of people in Tokyo. Every one of these people has their own life, their own job, and their own idea of what it means to be entertained. However, a very large chunk of those people seem to agree on one thing: Dueling is entertaining. Not about to let a great opportunity pass them by, corporate Japan created the Pro League, stage of the Dueling elite. Duelists from all over the world come to compete in Japan's Pro League, many of them making as much money as any professional athlete. The rise of Dueling's popularity as entertainment meant that special schools were created simply to train future dueling stars. However, these schools are not the point of this story. This story follows a young man who has left school behind for a promising future in the Pro League…

"Mr. Hitori?" A young woman in a conservative black business suit asked from her seat in the back of a limo. "Were you listening to me?"

The person sitting across from her, a young man, about nineteen years old, started and ran his hand nervously through his spiked white hair. "No, sorry. I guess I'm still a little… disbelieving, that's all."

The woman smiled slightly. "That's perfectly understandable, Mr. Hitori. After all, just six months ago, you were just a student. Now you're about to be thrown into one of the most hyped duels the Pro League has ever seen."

The young man smiled nervously. "Don't remind me. That disturbs me almost as much as the fact that my entire life's worth of dueling has been made public as part of your propaganda campaign."

"You'll do fine, Mr. Hitori." The woman said, "Mr. Mashimoto has a lot of faith in you."

The young man smiled winningly back at the woman. "Thanks, Ishita. And I've told you before, you can just call me Shibai."

Ishita was about to respond when the driver called from the front "Ms. Toriya? Mr. Hitori? We're here."

"Thank you." Ishita replied, before turning to Shibai. "Your public awaits."

Shibai nodded and got out of the car. He was immediately faced with a crowd cheering "Shibai! Shibai! Shibai!"

He waved to the crowd as he walked down the aisle that had been cleared for him. When he reached the doors, he whirled around and yelled "Alright! Everyone remember to cheer for me as loud as you can in there, because your cheers help me win!" He pumped his fist into the air, and another cheer rose from the crowd. With that, he walked into the building.

Still sitting in the limo, Ishita smiled. _"Mr. Mashimoto was right in sponsoring him. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play a crowd like he can."_

A short walk through the halls later, Shibai had reached his dressing room. He walked in, and was immediately greeted by a young American woman with short blonde hair, blue eyes, and glasses. "Hello!" The woman said cheerfully, in perfect Japanese, "My name is Kelly Reynolds, and I'm your general advisor!"

Shibai stared, thinking, _"What's an American doing here?"_

Kelly continued, seemingly unfazed by Shibai's stare. "I give you the info on your opponent, your gear, and anything else you need to know about!"

"Okay…" Shibai said. "So, what sort of information do you have for me?"

"You only have nine minutes until your match starts, so I'll tell you while you change." Kelly pointed to a screen. "You can change behind that."

Shibai walked behind the screen, and stared at his outfit for several seconds. He broke into a smirk. "I like."

"I'm glad, Mr. Hitori." Kelly replied. "Now, about you opponent. Normally, an rookie in the pro league gets the opportunity to cut his teeth on some of the lower ranked duelists, but someone must think very well of you, because you're starting against a 'C' rank opponent."

"Ok," Shibai replied, continuing to change, "So what can I expect?"

"Just about to get to that." Kelly said, "Your opponent is Matsu Nichiba. He uses an Alien control deck. It's primary weakness lies in its reliance on A-Counters. If you can keep switching monsters fast enough, you'll win for sure."

Shibai zipped his costume closed and smirked. "I can handle that." He walked out from behind the screen. "How do I look?" Shibai's costume was a black jumpsuit with neon green lines crisscrossing it. He was wearing a silver coat over the jumpsuit. The jumpsuit had a customized silver and green duel vest built into its chest.

Kelly smiled. "You look great, Mr. Hitori!"

Shibai smirked. "Thanks." He walked off in the direction of the arena.

"Good luck, Mr. Hitori!" Kelly called to him.

Shibai waved in response.

"Ladies and gentleman!" An announcer called from up in the dueling ring's press box. "Are you read for the most anticipated duel of the season?"

"YES!!!" The crowd roared.

"Alright!" The announcer said, "It's time! Let's introduce the players! First up, we have recent Duel Academy graduate Shibai Hitori!"

"Shibai! Shibai! Shibai!" The crowd called, as one of the walls of the arena opened up, revealing Shibai in all his costumed glory.

"Yeah!" He yelled to the crowd, "This win if for each and every one of you!" The crowd continued roaring his name in response.

"Well," The announcer said, "Shibai is obviously the crowd favorite. Not only that, he's so confident that he's already declared himself the winner. I'll bet his opponent has something to say about that… come on down, Matsu Nichiba!"

The other side of the arena opened, and Shibai's opponent walked out. Matsu wore a grey bodysuit with a number of red domes on it, giving him an appearance similar to that of his alien monsters.

Matsu frowned and activated his duel disk. "Just because you're the crowd favorite doesn't make you a better duelist then me, Shibai! You're going down!"

Shibai's duel vest slid into place, and he smirked and pulled his starting hand off of his deck. "I'm not backing down, Matsu! One of us is leaving here with a win, and it's not going to be you!"

MLP: 8000

SLP: 8000

"I'll go first! Draw!" Shibai called out. He fanned out his cards, and selected one. "I'll summon Nanomage Scryer in defense mode!" The monster that appeared was a humanoid in silvery robes with various neon green wires poking in and out of random places. His eyes were solid green, and he was sitting on the floor, staring intently into a green crystal. (500/1200)

Matsu's eyes narrowed. "I see… so that's what a Nanomage looks like, huh? What's this one do?"

"When Nanomage Scryer is summoned, I get to make a choice." Shibai said, smirking. "Either I get a monster with Nanomage in its name from my deck, or I get a spell or trap card with Cyberspell in its name from my deck. Also, either way I choose, I lose 500 life points. I'm going to choose the latter." Shibai fanned out his deck and selected a card from it. He smirked and placed that card onto hid duel vest. "I'll just set the card I searched for and end my turn."

MLP: 8000

SLP: 7500

Matsu silently drew a card from his deck, looked at it, and then grinned. "I already know just how I'm going to beat you, kid. I summon Alien Warrior in attack mode!" Matsu slapped a card onto his disc, and a giant, grey alien with huge claws shimmered onto his side of the field. (1800/1000)

"Attack!" Matsu yelled, "Alien Claw!" The bulky alien rushed forward and slammed on of his claws into the Scryer, shattering it instantly. The crowd cheered, apparently liking Matsu's bold move.

"Look's like the crowd's turning, kid." Matsu chuckled. "Ah well, them's the breaks. You can save a little face if you give up now."

Shibai smirked. "Why would I give up when I'm going to win?" His set card flipped up. "I activate Cyberspell Data Collector!" This quickplay spell can be activated whenever one of my Nanomage monsters is destroyed, and it lets me pay 500 life points to either draw a card or take a spell or trap back from my graveyard! I'll choose to draw!"

MLP: 8000

SLP: 7000

"That's not going to help you." Matsu said, frowning. "I'll set this one card, then end my turn."

Drawing, Shibai grinned. "I think I'll turn things up a notch! I activate the spell card Cyberspell Charger! This card costs 500 life points to activate, and gives me one of two effects. Either I gain 1500 life points, or reduce the level of a Nanomage in my hand by two for the rest of the turn. I'll go with the second option!"

"And," Shibai continued, "Since it's now a level four monster, I can summon Nanomage Enforcer!" This monster was also dressed in a sliver robe with various neon green wires sticking out of it. It had neon green eyes as well, and clutched a glowing green staff. (2300/1700)

Shibai pointed at Matsu's Alien. "Let's go! Nanomage Enforcer, attack his Alien Warrior! Enforcement Staff!" The cyborg mage nodded and whirled his staff around, then charged the grey Alien. He slammed his staff into the alien's head, and the Alien shattered.

MLP: 7500

SLP: 7000

"That's not all, though!" Shibai continued, "The first time each turn that my Enforcer destroys a monster as a result of battle, I can pay 500 life points. If I do, one of two things happens. Either he can attack another monster on your field, or you take the attack of the monster that was destroyed as damage. Since you've got no monsters, the choice is obvious!" Nanomage Enforcer pointed his staff at Matsu, and green electricity shot out of it, slamming into Matsu's chest and knocking him back several steps.

MLP: 5700

SLP: 6500

The crowd cheered excitedly, with yells of "Shibai!" coming every so often. Shibai grinned and waved at them, and the crowd grew even more fevered.

Matsu brushed off his jumpsuit. "Not everything's good for you, kid. Take a look." He pointed at two small, wriggling parasites that hat attached themselves to the Nanomage Enforcer. "Whenever Alien Warrior gets destroyed an battle, the monster that destroyed it gets two A-Counters."

Shrugging, Shibai said. "Not a big deal. I'll just set this one card and end my turn."

Taking a card off of his deck, Matsu smirked. "I'll wipe out that cocky attitude of yours, kid. I activate the effect of this monster in my hand, Alien Parasite!" One of the small parasites on Nanomage Enforcer began to swell. The parasite burst and a small Alien that was basically a mouth with legs and a tail appeared on Matsu's field. (1000/0)

"Alien Parasite's effect allows it to be special summoned from my hand by removing an A-Counter from a monster on the field." Matsu explained. "Now," He continued, taking another card from his hand, "I'll tribute Alien Parasite for Alien Mother!" The small alien faded from Matsu's field and was replaced with a towering grey and purple alien colossus. (2300/1500)

"As impressive as that is," Shibai said, "It doesn't matter. Our monsters are evenly matched."

Matsu shook his head. "Typical mistake. You forgot about my A-Counter!"

Shibai's eyes widened, and the Alien Mother charged his Nanomage Enforcer. The two monsters clashed, and a timely jolt of electricity from the parasite on the Enforcer's side gave Alien Mother the chance she needed to ram her claws into the Enforcer's stomach. The Enforcer fell down, dead, and Alien Mother roared in triumph, the crowd echoing her roar.

MLP: 5700

SLP: 6200

"I'll set this one card." Chuckling, Matsu eyed Shibai. "If you ever manage to get your career back together after I trash you, look me up for a rematch."

"After you trash me?" Shibai asked rhetorically, "Not gonna happen."

Matsu frowned. "Oh yeah? Well I end my turn, and the effect of Alien Mother kicks in! Since it destroyed a monster with an A-counter on it, the destroyed monster is summoned back to my side of the field!" The dead Nanomage Enforcer jerked upright, looking for all the world like a cybernetic zombie, and walked over to Matsu's side of the field. The odds continuing to marshal against Shibai, and the crowd had turned completely in Matsu's favor.

Up at the top of the stand, Ishita bit her lip. "If he loses now, Mr. Mashimoto's investment will be down the drain! You'd better get through this, Shibai…"

Shibai slid a card off of his deck, looked at it, and placed it on his duel vest. "Card of Sanctity! Now we both draw until we're holding six cards!"

Fanning out his new hand, Shibai grinned. "Alright folks, it's time for the grand turnaround! I activate Cyberspell Overload! At the cost of 500 life points and a card from my hand, this destroys either all monsters on the field or all spell and trap cards on the field. I'll pick monsters, so say goodbye!" A glowing green orb appeared on the center of the field. It began to crackle with energy, and after a few seconds, exploded, taking Alien Mother and the reanimated Nanomage Enforcer with it.

MLP: 5700

SLP: 5700

"And I'm just warming up!" Shibai continued, "Next, I'll summon Nanomage Adept in attack mode!" Another Nanomage shimmered onto Shibai's field, this one shorter then the others, clearly only a teenager. (1400/1000)

"Nanomage Adept, Attack!" Shibai pointed at Matsu. "Particle Beam!" The teenage Nanomage raised his hands and fired a blast of green energy at Matsu, which slammed him in the chest and knocked him off of his feet.

MLP: 4300

SLP: 5700

"I'll end with this one set card." Finishing his turn, Shibai placed the card on his duel vest.

Matsu drew a card, and then scanned his seven-card hand. "This works." He took one of the cards out of his hand and placed it on his disc. "I activate Corruption Cell 'A'! This spell card will put an A-Counter on your monster." A small parasite flew across the field and attached itself to Nanomage Adept, who didn't seem to notice.

"Next, I'll activate my facedown card, Brainwashing Beam!" Matsu's set card flipped up, and a glazed look came over Nanomage Adept's eyes, and he walked over to Matsu's field.

"Since you just took control of one of my monsters using Brainwashing Beam, I assume you're about to tribute it for Cosmic Horror Gangi'el?"

"Exactly!" Matsu replied, "I tribute your Nanomage for Cosmic Horror Gangi'el!" The Nanomage disappeared and in its place appeared a massive, multi tentacled monster appeared. (2600/2000)

Smirking, Matsu pointed at Shibai. "Gangi'el, rip him apart!"

The massive space beast charged at Shibai, who just smirked. "I activate Cyberspell Barrier. By paying 500 life points, I can either destroy an attacking monster or negate its attack and end the battle phase! I'll use the first effect to destroy your Horror!" A green energy bubble appeared around Shibai, and Gangi'el rammed into it and was hit by a massive backlash of electricity. The alien roared in pain before shattering.

MLP: 4300

SLP: 5700

Matsu growled under his breath. "You think that that's going to save you, rookie? I'll show you how wrong you are. I end my turn."

Shibai pulled a card off of his deck with a flourish. He raised the card up into the air. "This is the last turn, Matsu. You've put up a good fight, but it's over."

"Ha!" Matsu replied, "I'd like to see you try and beat me in this one turn with only three cards."

"Get looking, then!" Shibai said, "I activate Cyberspell Time-Warp. At the cost of 500 life points, this card can retrieve either a Nanomage or Cyberspell from my graveyard. I'll bring back my Cyberspell Charger!" The named card popped out of his graveyard, and he added it to his hand.

MLP: 4300

SLP: 5200

"I'll once again activate Cyberspell Charger, and I'll once again make on of my monsters two levels lower!" Shibai placed the card onto his duel vest. "Now, I'll summon the level six Nanomage Blader!" A new Nanomage appeared on Shibai's field, this one with a blade on one of his arms. (1000/0)

MLP: 4300

SLP: 4700

Matsu licked his lips. "A level six with those kind of stats has to have some kind of lethal effect. What does it do?"

"I'll get to that in a second." Shibai took the last card from his hand and placed it on his duel vest. "I activate the quickplay Cyberspell Amplifier, playing 500 life points to either increase the attack or defense of one of my monsters by 700 for the turn." A green energy field surrounded Nanomage Blader, and his attack rose. (1000/0)—(1700/0)

MLP: 4300

SLP: 4200

"You were curious about what kind of ability my Blader has, right?" Shibai smirked. "He can attack three times in one battle phase!"

Matsu's eyes bulged. "WHAT?!"

"Nanomage Blader, attack with Triple Blade!" Shibai yelled. The Blader nodded, then streaked forward, slashing Matsu three times and knocking him off of his feet.

MLP: 0

SLP: 4200

The crowd got up on their feet and roared "Shibai! Shibai! Shibai!"

Shibai walked towards his fallen opponent and offered him a hand. Matsu took the hand and got up. Shibai pumped his fist into the air. "I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you! Keep cheering me on, and I'll keep winning!" With that, Shibai walked out of the arena, waving as he went.

Matsu sighed. "Guess the rookie was a bit better then I thought."

In the hallway just outside of the arena, Shibai was met by Kelly. The advisor grinned at him. "That was quite a duel, Mr. Hitori! You must really love to duel!"

Shibai smiled back. "No, that's not it."

Kelly blinked in confusion. "If you don't love dueling, then why do you do it?"

"Simple." Shibai replied. "I love applause."

Next Time: Japan isn't the only country with a pro dueling circuit. A young American duelist with everything to prove steps up against an opponent with amazing drive, and Shibai gets an offer he can't refuse. Don't miss "The Two Heroes! Strike of the Three-Turn Killer!"


	2. The Two Heroes!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX – A League of Their Own

Chapter 2 – The Two Heroes! Strike of the Three-Turn Killer!

Japan was the first country to set up a pro dueling circuit, but they certainly weren't the last. America set up their Master League within months of Japan's Pro League. Although the Master League isn't as respected as the Pro League, success there is just as lucrative. Despite the hefty registration fee, hundreds of duelists flock to the registration every year, hoping to join the ranks of America's Masters of Dueling…

There was a huge crowd outside of the Master League headquarters in New York. The crowd stretched for blocks, everyone in it clutching a deck and hoping for the same thing: a spot in the Master League.

Near the front of the crowd, having arrived there hours before the registration opened, was a young woman, maybe twenty years old, with short brown hair and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. She was wearing a short-sleeved white blouse and knee-length black skirt. Her name was Rita Anzem.

Rita sighed to herself and licked her lips nervously. "At least I'm close to the front of the line." She shook her head, trying to clear out the doubts beginning to cloud her mind. "No. I can't let myself worry. I just have to do the best that I can."

A few minutes later, Rita had reached the front of the line.

"Hello!" The receptionist said cheerfully. "Your name please?"

"Rita Anzem." Rita replied.

"Alright…" The receptionist typed a few things into her computer. "Your score on the written exam was an 96, which is more then enough, your deck is registered and your entrence fee has been paid. Here are your instructions." The receptionist handed Rita a piece of paper. "Go on in."

Rita thanked the receptionist and walked inside.

Looking around, Rita was amazed at the huge number of duelists who had gathered there. There were people from everywhere, and everyone had come for the same reason she had – to duel.

Looking at the sheet of paper she had been handed, Rita walked towards the indicated duel ring. When she reached it, her opponent was already standing there. He was a man about twenty-five years old, with black hair wearing a grey bomber jacket and jeans.

The man cracked his knuckles. "Let's get down to business. My name is Eric Carter, the Three Turn Killer. I intend to win. You can either forfeit now, or be crushed in three turns at the most. Your choice?"

Rita frowned at Eric's manner. "I'm not going to be intimidated. Five years ago, maybe, but not now."

Eric raised his duel disk. "I respect your courage, if not your sense. Shall we begin?"

"Let's go!" Rita replied, and they drew their starting hands.

ELP: 8000

RLP: 8000

Rita drew a card off of her deck, than flipped her hand around. "Take a look! Since I've got no monsters on the field or in my hand, I can summon Young Hero from my deck!" She slid the card out of her deck, and placed it on her disc. A teenager boy in a Japanese high school uniform appeared on her field. (0/0)

"Now," Rita continued, since Young Hero is the only monster on my field or in my hand, I can summon Young Heroine from my deck!" A teenage girl shimmered onto her field, next to the teenage boy from before. (0/0)

"I'll set two cards, then end my turn." Rita finished.

"I really am sorry." Eric said as he drew, "But I have to win this so I get the highest rank I possibly can! I'll show you why I'm called the Three-Turn Killer!" He slammed a card onto his disc. "I activate the Spell Card Giant Robot Transformation! This card lets me send three certain Fusion Material monsters from my deck to my graveyard to summon a certain fusion monster from my fusion deck. I send Rhino Mecha, Tiger Mecha and Falcon Mecha to the graveyard to summon Giant Robot Alpha!" Three robots, each on shaped like one of the named animals, appeared on his field. The three robots morphed together into a single humanoid robot. (3000/3000)

"Impressive." Rita said, "But Young Hero and Young Heroine have special abilities that can more then combat it. Young Hero, Young Heroine, transform!" Young Hero and Young Heroine each nodded and clicked buttons on their oversized watches. With a bright flash of light, the two of them were transformed from normal high school students into superheroes. Young Hero wore a uniform of white metal and blue spandex, and Young Heroine white metal with pink spandex. The two of them posed heroically. (0/0)—(3600/3600), (0/0)—(2400/2400)

"What the heck just happened?" Eric asked.

"The stronger the opponent, the stronger my heroes get." Rita replied. "Specifically, 400 points times the level of your highest level monster for Young Hero and 300 points per level for Young Heroine." Rita grinned. "Also, as long as Young Hero is on the field, Young Heroine can't be attacked, and as long as Young Heroine is on the field, Young Hero can't be the target of spells or traps."

Eric looked impressed. "Nice lock." He smirked, "But I'm not done yet." As he took another card from his hand, his graveyard began to shine. "I activate Scrapyard Fusion, removing fusion material monsters in my graveyard from the game to summon a machine-type fusion monster from my fusion deck! I'll remove Rhino Mecha, Tiger Mecha and Falcon Mecha to summon a second Giant Robot Alpha!" The glow coming out of Eric's graveyard grew into a binding flash, and when it subsided a second massive robot stood next to the first. (3000/3000)

"My force is still incomplete, though." Eric continued, "I activate Dimensional Transport Device! This lets each of us summon as many machine-type monsters as possible from our removed from play pile. You have none, but I will summon Rhino Mecha, Tiger Mecha and Falcon Mecha!" A massive rip opened up in the air, and out of it flew the mechanical animals. (1800/1500), (1700/1600), (1600/1700)

_"Wow!"_ Rita thought, _"Using only three cards from his hand, he managed to summon five monsters on the first turn, two of which have 3000 attack points! He's really good."_ She glanced at one of her facedown cards. _"But Young Hero still has more attack points, and I have a backup plan just in case…"_

"You may think that your monster's higher attack points will save you, but they won't." Eric declared, "Because I activate Limiter Removal, doubling the strength of all machine on my side of the field!" The five machines began to heat up and start crackling as their attack power shot up. (3000/3000)x2—(6000/3000)x2, (1800/1500)—(3600/1500), (1700/1600)—(3400/1600), (1600/1700)—(3200/1700)

"A pity…" Eric said, "Looks like you're not going to last past turn one. Attack!" Various compartments opened up on the five mechanical monsters, and they launched a volley of missiles at Young Hero and Young Heroine.

"That's not going to work!" Rita cried, "I activate my counter-trap, Narrow Escape! This trap negates your attack and ends your turn as long as both Young Hero and Young Heroine are face-up on my field!"

Eric blinked. "Wasn't expecting that." He smiled eerily. "Guess you've survived turn one. Two to go…"

"Don't forget about the other effect of your limiter removal." Rita reminded Eric, "Now all your monsters are destroyed."

"Oh well." Eric shrugged, as his five machines exploded around him, and Young Hero and Young Heroine de-transformed. (3600/3600)—(0/0), (2400/2400)—(0/0)

"My turn!" said Rita, drawing. She grinned when she saw the card she had drawn. She placed it onto her disc. "I activate Striking the Heart of the Evil!"

"And what, pray tell, does that do?" Asked Eric.

"Well," Rita said, "For this turn only and for all effects that are determined by monster level, the opposing player is considered to be a monster, with one level for every thousand life points that they have. You have 8000 exactly, so you're considered to be a level eight monster."

"Which boosts your monsters to 3600 and 2400 attack points." Eric deduced.

"Exactly!" Rita replied, "Young Hero, Young Heroine, transform!" Once again, the two monsters were surrounded by white light and they appeared in their costumes. (0/0)—(3600/3600), (0/0)—(2400/2400)

"Young Hero, Young Heroine, attack!" Rita said. "Bring him down!" The two monsters nodded, and rushed Eric. Young Hero kicked him in the stomach and Young Heroine punched him in the face.

ELP: 3000

RLP: 8000

Eric rubbed his nose. "Ouch."

Rita took a card from her hand and placed it facedown on her disc. "My turn's done." Her turn done, the effects of Striking the Heart of the Evil wore off and Young Hero and Young Heroine de-transformed. (3600/3600)—(0/0), (2400/2400)—(0/0)

Sliding a card off of his deck, Eric grinned. "I'll show you some real power! I activate Pot of Avarice, which lets me shuffle five monsters from my graveyard back into my deck in order to draw two cards!" He slid Rhino Mecha, Tiger Mecha, Falcon Mecha and the two Giant Robot Alphas out of his graveyard. The first three were shuffled back into his deck, and the latter two were returned to the fusion deck. He took two cards off the top of his deck and added them to his hand.

"Now," he continued, "I activate two more copies of Giant Robot Transformation!" Six cards popped out of his deck, and he slid them into his graveyard. The animal mecha again appeared on his field and formed together, turning into a pair of massive robots. (3000/3000)x2

In response, Young Hero and Young Heroine shone with light, transforming into their super powered selves. (0/0)—(3600/3600), (0/0)—(2400/2400)

"I'm not done by a long shot, though." Eric boasted, "I activate another Scrapyard Fusion, removing Lion Mecha, Tiger Mecha and Falcon Mecha to summon my third Giant Robot Alpha!" He pulled the three cards out of his graveyard, and a third giant robot appeared on his field, standing next to the first two. (3000/3000)

Eric slammed the last card in his hand onto his disc. "Now, for the finishing touch! I activate Giant Mecha Armada! Now, I select one Mecha or Giant Robot on my Field, and it gains the attack of all other Mecha and Giant Robots on my field! Also, it's the only monster that can attack this turn." Two of the three Giant Robots turned towards the third and launched energy beams at it, powering it up. (3000/300)—(9000/3000)

"Attack!" Eric yelled, "Destroy him!" The powered up Giant Robot Alpha shot a massive barrage of missiles at Young Hero. They impacted in a massive explosion, but, when the dust cleared, Young Hero was still standing.

ELP: 3000

RLP: 2600

Eric raised an eyebrow. "What just happened?"

"My set card." Rita replied, "A Hero Unyielding. For the rest of the turn, Young Hero and Young Heroine can't be destroyed."

Frowning, Eric said "One turn left." and concluded his turn.

Rita drew a card and smiled. "I activate Ultimate Teamwork! By sacrificing Young Heroine's attack for this turn, Young Hero can attack all the monsters on your field!" The two heroes nodded to each other and charged. They double jump kicked one robot, photon-blasted a second and punched down the third. Eric's three robots fell down in an explosion of scrap metal.

ELP: 1200

RLP: 2600

Eric laughed. "You're pretty good. It's been a long time since anyone's been able to beat down my forces twice."

"I'm just getting warmed up." Rita said. "I end my turn."

Eric clenched his drawing hand into a fist and placed two fingers on his deck. He ripped the top card off, and just for a second, Rita could have sworn she saw a flash of dark energy around his hand and deck, but she blinked and it was gone.

"Unless that facedown is something extraordinary, then you've lost." Eric declared. "I activate my final Scrapyard Fusion, removing my three Giant Robot Alphas to summon my greatest weapon, Supreme Giant Robot Omega!" The three giant robots appeared on the field and merged together, forming a titanic robot three times larger then they were individually. (9000/9000)

Rita gulped. _"I can't stop that! My only facedown…"_

Eric smirked. "Supreme Giant Robot Omega, attack." A hundred compartments opened up on the robot and he launched a titanic barrage of missiles at Young Hero.

Rita's eyes hardened. "I've got no choice. I activate my facedown card, Heroism! Now… all attacks made against my monsters become direct attacks instead!"

Eric's eyes widened. "WHY?"

"Because," Rita answered, her eyes flashing, "I won't let you hurt my friends!!" The missiles streamed past Young Hero and hit Rita instead, hitting with such force that they sent her flying out of the ring.

ELP: 1200

RLP: 0

Eric smirked slightly and stroked his chin. "She's an interesting one, alright. It's almost a shame I had to win."

Up in the box where all the duels were being observed from, a man in a business suit with a goatee and glasses watched Rita and Eric's duel. He smiled slightly. "Very interesting indeed…."

About half an hour later, Rita woke up on a couch in the lobby. She looked around. "What happened? The duel-"

"I won." Eric said from where he'd been standing next to her. "They asked me to give you this when you woke up." He handed her a card with a large three on it.

Rita blinked at it. "I made rank three?"

"Yes, as did I." Eric replied, showing her his own card. "I guess you impressed someone."

"I guess I did." Rita said with a smile, taking her card.

Across the lobby, a strange man watched Rita and Eric. The man was wearing tight black clothes and a short blue coat with only a right sleeve. He had short black hair, blue eyes and a blue tear painted on his left cheek. He smirked at the two duelists he was watching. "That girl…" He said, his voice soft and full of malice, "Her potential is simply astounding… The other one is interesting as well… but he's already reached the limits of his potential… I'll let the girl grow a bit more… But the boy will nicely sate my hunger until for now…

On the other side of the world, in Shibai's swank Tokyo penthouse, Shibai was currently listening to Ishita list off his public appearances for that week.

The young duelist groaned. "Can't we stop with all the publicity, already? Now that I've actually started dueling, do we really need so many public appearances?"

"Yes, we do. It's important to keep your name in the public eye, even when you're not dueling."

Shibai just groaned in response.

Ishita sighed. "If it makes you feel better, we got an offer I think you might be interested in."

Lifting his head, Shibai asked, "What kind of offer?"

"A highly exclusive dueling coach has offered to train you."

"Why would I need a coach?"

"It's Morisuna Nachiba."

Shibai whistled. "The legend himself wants to train me? I'm in."

A/N: Sorry this took so long. It was done two weeks ago, but I discovered that some weird new thing in my school's firewall prevents me from logging in, thus I can't post.

Next Time: In the cutthroat world of the European Kaiser League, only a few duelists are recognized as being truly great. When two of them face down, it'll be a battle to remember. Don't miss "Kaiser Battle! Army vs. Army!"


End file.
